brainwrangler

I'm coming in from Texas to do a clinical psychology PhD. Any suggestions on how to find places to live while out of town?

U of Florida, CAN/neuropsych track.

I was taking a quick pre-interview walk at another program to steady my nerves. I'll say it worked. I sent my PI a hasty email from my phone, did a quick victory lap around the psychology building (in a full suit and formal shoes), and strolled into my next interview with a big, dumb grin.

School: University of Florida Concentration: Clinical (neuropsychology/cognitive neuroscience track) Type: PhD Date of acceptance: 3/1/2019 Notified by: Email from graduate program director. POI initials available on request. Very strongly considering this offer--program seems fantastic--but waiting on 2 other schools.

Has anyone heard back from Boston University post-interview?

Awkward situation at one of my interview sites. One of the PIs with whom I interviewed by phone is going to be out of town for the actual interview weekend; she invited me to visit her lab, but since it's offsite, that may not be possible during the official interview day. I can't attend the alternate interview weekend, as I've already committed to another one. Am I sunk at this lab?

I've been teaching myself to carve wood and getting through all the games and books and movies I won't have time for in grad school. So far I've got hands full of little cuts and I'm finishing a book every few days and a movie every night. Working through Anno Dracula and a collection of Neil Gaiman essays right now. I'm also planning to get a new bike and get out on the town more. Nothing worse than a night at home with nothing but my empty inbox.

Not all PsyD programs have poor match rates. You want to look at the APA-accredited internship rate and the eventual licensing rate, which they should have posted on their website. A non-accredited internship could be an issue for you in the future.

Note: even universities in very conservative areas often have a thriving LGBT+ community. I'm currently working in one of the most conservative college towns in the country, and I've gotten nothing but acceptance from the university community itself. My department has neutral bathrooms and regular allyship workshops. I'm openly gay and semi-openly transgender and have always been treated with absolute respect by my department. We have faculty actively publishing on gay and bi issues. I'm an active member of several LGBT+ groups on campus. Even in less-tolerant places, universities (particularly psych and neuro departments) tend to be pretty lavender. Outside the university itself...things can be more mixed. I've definitely heard some bigoted jokes (especially because I pass as straight and cisgender) and the social scene is pretty peculiar. That said, there are accepting social groups, religious communities, and bars--it may take more work to find them, but they exist in almost every city large enough to have a university, and they'll definitely exist in those major cities. Additional caveat: this may depend on where you fall under the LGBT umbrella. I imagine it would be harder for a visibly trans person than for a cisgender gay person in most areas. That said, I've heard UNC Chapel Hill in particular is very queer-friendly.

I'm also applying to Temple. They just opened my transcript today. I think some schools are just moving along a little more slowly...

I did have to explain how I went from Area 1 to Area 2 in my interview, but profs know you generally don't have unlimited options at your undergrad institution and that interests evolve. If you can tell a coherent story about why you picked your new area and can make a case that you either have applicable skills or can learn them quickly, in my experience they won't hold it against you.

Survived my first phone interview! Think it went pretty well: I had a vague idea of a project to pursue, I remembered my questions, and I only tripped over my words once or twice. I find out next week if I got onto the in-person interview list. Edit: I'm planning to send a thank-you note. Should I clarify a point I made about my prior research experience where I screwed up my wording and referenced something nonexistent? It was one second in a fairly good interview, but it's eating at me.

I had recurring dreams about quitting science to become a dairy farmer. Maybe it's a sign. Good luck to everyone! I'm trying to keep my mind on work, but it's been tough (posting this from the lab...). I've got a screening interview tomorrow and need to pester some programs about what they did with my transcripts/GRE scores, so I'm not totally out of the woods yet.

I substantially revised my outline for the last school I applied to (10 out of 12 had pretty similar requirements); of course this new revision was substantially better than what I'd sent to earlier schools. Funny how that works. I've been opening up some in-progress Matlab code and tweaking it every time I get the urge to look back at my applications. On a different note, Temple never opened my official transcript PDF. They do have my unofficial transcript. Should I email them about it?

Are phone/Skype interviews fair game for this post? If so: School: U of Arizona Clinical Psych Type: PhD Date of invite: Dec 3 Type of invite: Email from POI Interview date(s): Invited to interview "this week or early next week"

Pretty sure the latter; the applicant gets information from an in-person interview (e.g., department culture) that's hard to assess over Skype. Edited to add: also, some applicants can play nice over Skype but turn out to be impossible to work with in person. It's a lot harder to maintain a facade in an entire weekend of interviewing.

Got a Skype interview at U of Arizona... ...and emails from some PIs I emailed earlier in the season and didn't hear back from. So far, so good.

I have the option of submitting a diversity statement to one of the schools on my list. I'm white, American, culturally Christian, upper-middle-class from professional parents...and gay and transgender. I don't plan to specialize in LGBT issues in grad school; my documents are mostly legally changed and the average person would not be able to tell I'm trans; and since I plan to specialize in older adult issues, I fully intend to keep my gender history and sexuality quiet at work. That said. Northwestern's application procedure is extremely LGBT-friendly (requesting my preferred pronouns and providing a blank space to describe my gender identity), and "sexuality" is specifically listed as an example of diversity in the prompt. Should I go ahead and submit a short statement? All I can think of is increased rapport with LGBT clients and increased awareness of potential confounds in research (e.g., some studies combine all transgender subgroups, regardless of assigned sex or hormonal status).

Uploading my last materials tonight. Can't submit my Interfolio application for Temple, as the SOP is still "pending"; wishing I'd done this four hours ago. D'oh. (I did submit all other materials and my application through the Temple site is in.)

My applications go in on Saturday, so it's a little late for that--I've been at conferences and had very limited computer access for a few weeks. I guess I'll send some panicked last-minute emails to every school's departmental director. Thanks for the quick reply!

Some schools don't allow any kind of unofficial (e.g., PDF) report submission, so for those schools all I have is the self-report.

I requested GRE score reports several weeks ago; none of the 12 schools I'm applying to have received my reports, although the GRE site claims they were delivered on Nov 23. I recently legally changed my name, and listed my former name in my application materials when a field was provided. Could this have interfered with matching my GRE score report to my application?

My GRE scores are missing at almost every school and one of my recommenders hasn't submitted any of his letters. I'm running on adrenaline here. Just realized I entered the wrong second-choice faculty advisor at UT Austin. Think I'm probably out of the running on that one...

For personal reasons* I haven't gotten started on this until very late (applications due on Dec 1st). Is it still worthwhile contacting potential POIs, or does this make me look sloppy and disorganized? I of course understand that faculty are extremely busy. *limited computer access at home

I found my position on Indeed.com with the keywords "psychology research assistant." If you have major universities or academic hospitals nearby, you can also check their job boards manually (great if you live in Boston, not so great if you live in the middle of nowhere). If you're close to your profs, you can also ask them if they have any leads. Many of mine forwarded me job openings before they were posted publicly.